Primary and Community Care

I have been a nurse since 1986, mainly working in end of life or dementia care. I have had a variety of roles in the hospital, care home, community and hospice settings. I have been a family carer (alongside my brother and sister) since 2002.

On the 20th March the usual discussion, laughter, sounds of people coming and going, and noises of normal life fell eerily silent. We had gone into a national state of ‘lock down’. I had always avoided using the phrase if we had needed to close our care home to visitors previously, but now it actually felt appropriate.  We were locked down and locked in.

Lister House Care Home nestles against the beautiful North Yorkshire landscape, just on the outskirts of the historic small city of Ripon.

In this blog I write as a care home nurse with hindsight, reliving my shift in mid-March, when I could hear the ‘hooves of the apocalyptic horses’ approaching as coronavirus took hold. I have not worked there since, as I have instead been caring for my husband who is shielding. 

As the COVID-19 pandemic enters its fifth month there is increasing focus within the UK on care home deaths. Latest figures show almost 5000 deaths were registered in the week ending 10 April, double the number a month prior.

We are in exceptional times, and people are providing care in extraordinary ways. On the 30th January 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced that the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak was a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

Titled “Investment and Evolution” and sporting the NHS flagship blue and white livery it made many bold statements. First up, the extortionate premiums in indemnity coverage that GPs face will end, thanks to state backed indemnity. Nice.